I thought there would be some time before my next Cormoran Strike review, but I happened to have won a signed copy thanks to a competition organised by the Crime Vault, in association with Little, Brown Company. So, naturally, I devoured foresaid precious book as soon as it found its way to my letterbox.
When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…
The third crime novel from JK Rowling’s alter ego sees private detective Cormoran Strike and assistant Robin Ellacott haunted by their pasts, and it’s a pure delight to read. Her third whodunit leans heavily on shock factor as our PI duo tussles with the reprehensible realms of paedophilia, a spate of blood-chilling serial murders, and that darkest of wrathful revenge.
With its opening chapter, told from the killer’s point of view, Robert Galbraith, a.k.a. J.K. Rowling, indelibly marks Career of Evil as her grisliest novel yet. The novelty of the split narrative between Strike and Robin’s world and that of the killer — whose preference, when it comes to women, lies in the body-part-in-the-freezer variety — quietly ratchets up the tension-filled scariness of spending time inside a sociopath’s mind. The chapters told from the nameless sociopath’s point of view is a chilling yet highly enjoyable portrayal. These chapters also induce a sense of urgency, as the list of victims slowly increases, and Robin will be next…
At least when my parcel arrived it wasn’t that dodgy…
But Rowling also allows her protagonists room to grow. Robin’s relationship with Matthew is more unstable than ever, and Strike dates this beautiful yet uninteresting woman to forget his crush on his assistant. Both grapple with old memories as well; Strike revisiting his childhood spent with his peripatetic mother and abusive stepfather, while Robin reveals an event from her past that shapes some of the novel’s more salient and emotionally-charged scenes.
Rowling’s writing is velvety and fluid, making the book pure pleasure. She’s a great builder of worlds: she evokes the world of rainy modern London — the wet-wool smell of the Tube, the warm and bright pubs — with charm and skill.
That’s what makes these novels so good: They are clever, tightly plotted mysteries with all of the most pleasurable elements of the genre (good guy, bad guy, clues, twists, murder!), but with stunning emotional and moral shading.
Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith, Sphere, Paperback, £7.99
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